Rotary engine



(No Model.) 2 sheetssheet l.

P. A. LARSON.

v ROTARY ENGINE. No. 562,545. Patented June 23, 1896.

I" '1 7wm d G, I f i WuaPEssEs; Mmwron:

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. A. LARSON. ROTARY ENGINE.

No. 562,545. I Patented June 23, 1896.

WIIWE'SSES: R:

2. 7x 5%.. Wmfl g 31%; Armani;-

ANDREW ion-MAM PHOTO'UTHQWASHINGTDN DI;v

UNITED STATES ATENT Trice.

PETTER A. LARSON, OF IDA, MINNESOTA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 562,545, dated June 23, 1896.

Application filed November 8, 1895. Serial No. 568,297. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETTER A. LARSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ida, in the county of Douglas and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rotary engines.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a rotary engine in which the steam will act with full and direct force upon the moving part from the beginning to the end of its engagement therewith; second, to provide a rotary engine of a very strong and durable construction with as few parts as possible;

third, to provide a rotary engine of the com pound type, with facilities for using either or both of the cylinders for live steam, or by letting the steam pass first through the small and then into the large cylinder and expand, all according to the power needed, so that the same engine will be adapted for a great variety of lighter or heavier work.

lVith the above and other objects in view my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my complete engine. Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view, as on the line a a in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a centrallon gitudinal vertical section, as betweencand d in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged radial sectional view of a portion of one of the cylinders and piston, as on the line b b in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 0 c in Fig. 1, looking from left to right and with the cylinder slightly turned. Fig. 6 is a cross-section, as on the line 9 g in Fig. 2.

Referring to the various parts in the drawings by reference-numerals, the bed-plate 1 and the stands 2, 3, 4, and 5, in which the main shaft 6 is journaled, constitute the frame of the engine.

two cylinders, with their pistons and piston holding stands 4 and 5, are so exactly alike that a description of one will answer for both of them, except as to size and relative functions.

The shaft 6 is made in two abutting sections and coupled together by the couplings .68, which, by a hand-lever, (not shown,) may be thrown in or out of engagement with each other. The shaft is journaled not only in the boxes 9 and 10, but also in the boxes 11., (shown in Fig. 5,) provided in the opening 12 in the stand 4, which is secured by the bolts 13 to the bed-plate 1.

Cast integral with the stand 4, or, as in the present instance, secured thereto by the bolts 14, is the elliptic piston 15, (best shown in Fig 2,) provided with a hole 16 for the shaft to pass through- It is further provided with the steam-ports 17 and 18, which extend as radial ducts through the piston, as indicated by the dotted lines 19 and 20, and open into the cylinder 7, one at each side of the widest point of the piston, which at said point is provided with an inserted packing-strip 22, whereby that point of the piston is made steam-tight with the inner circular surface of the cylinder, while the rest of the piston is so much smaller than the cylinder as to leave the steam-space 23 between the two. The face of the piston is further provided with two grooves 24 25, extending from the points 26 and 27 into the ports 19 and 20, respectively.

The cylinder 7 resembles a drum having large round holes cut through the center of its bottoms.

28 are the annular bottoms of the cylinder. They fit snugly against the flat sides of the piston 15, and in order to secure a perfect steam-tight fit I secure upon the edge of the bottom 28, by the belts or screws 29, (see Fig.

4,) the packing-ring 30, which, between its inner bent edge 31 and the edge 32 of the bottom 28, holds a flexible packing 33 against the piston 15. This packing-ring 30 may be made in several sections. In the present instance it is made only in two half-rings.

The cylinder with its bottoms is divided diametrically in two and provided with flanges 34, through which I pass the bolts or screws 35, and thus secure the two half-cyl- The flanges 34 extend beinders together.

yond the circumference of the cylinder and are provided with adjacent cavities, forming the abutment-chambers 36, housing the two oppositely-situated slides 37 of which the inner ends are held snugly against the face of the piston, by having the hooks 38 of the yoke 39 engaging the grooves 40, provided for that purpose near the edge of the piston upon both sides of it. The said yoke is about U-shaped, passing around the outer end of the slide, with a spring 41 interposed between the two so as to always hold the slide close to the piston, take up wear, &c. 42 are grooves in the cylinder-covers for the yoke 39 and the slide 37 to guide in when extended out of the abutment-chamber.

Formed integral with, or, as in Fig. 3, bolted to, the cylinder is a spider 43, of which the hub 44 is rigidly secured upon the shaft 6.

45 is a pulley by which the engine may drive other machinery. Another pulley (not shown) may be placed upon the opposite end of the shaft for like purpose, and for enabling the two cylinders and sections of the shaft to be used independently of each other.

46 is a multiple-gated valve with a handle 47 for turning it. The steam is led into this valve-chamber through the hole 48, and after passing through one or both of the cylinders is exhausted at 19. By means of the four pipes and stop-cocks 50, 51, 52, and 53, and the turning of the large multiple-gated valve, the steam may be directed so as to run either one of the cylinders at a time, or the two at one time, by high pressure, together as one engine, or independently as two engines, according to how the coupling or clutch 68 is set. Again, the couplings may be thrown together and the steam directed through the small cylinder 7, and allowed to exhaust into the large cylinder 8, which it drives by expanding to a lower pressure, according to the size of the large cylinder, from which it finally passes out at a very low pressure, or may be conducted into a condenser, where there is a chance to use such.

In operation it will be further understood that when the steam enters, for instance, in Fig. 2, the hole 17 it passes through the duct 19 into the cylinder and presses, as the arrow e, on the slide 37, moving it to the position indicated by the dotted lines 60, when the steam will escape at 27, through the groove 25, duct 20, and hole 18. At the time one of Thus the working space in the cylinder is from 61 to 60, or fully half of the circle, and is of an even size all through, so that the steam has an even and as large as possible working surface on the slide to act on all the time. To reverse the engine, the valves are simply turned so that the steam enters at 18, acts on the opposite sides of the slides, and escapes at 17.

From the above description it will be seen that I provide a cheap, simple, but in proportion to its size a very powerful engine, whether used as high-pressure engine alone, or as a compound high and low pressure engine, and that I can greatly increase the capacity of the engine by using the two cylinders in succession, or by direct high-pressure steam.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a rotary engine, the combination of a bed-plate, two stands secured thereon, one of which has an overhanging elliptical head or piston, as 15, with the steam-duets 17, and 18, entering the fiat side of the piston, running radially and opening into the cylinder, through the face of the piston, one near each side of the point of contact between the cylinder and the piston, said piston having the grooves 24, and 25, in its face extending from said ducts to the points 26, and 27, substantially diametrically opposite each other on the piston, the side grooves 40, a central hole for the shaft of the engine to pass through and the packing 22, touching the cylinder; the shaft 6, passing through the piston and being j ournaled in the stands, a spider rigidly secured on the shaft, a diametrically-split cylinder secured to the spider and having annular bottoms with packing-rings and packing at their edges, fitting against the flat sides of the piston, and two oppositely-situated radial abutment-chambers and slides con tained therein, said slides being guided in radial grooves in the cylinder-covers and having yokes as 39, with hooks engaging the grooves 40, in the piston and springs as 41, interposed between the yokes and the outer ends of the slides, and means for starting, stopping and reversing the engine, and means for transmitting its power to other machinery, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PETTER A. LARSON.

\Vitnesses:

WILLIAM ANGUS, ROBERT ANGUS.

ITO 

